Impression
It’s certainly been a while since I’ve concerned myself with anything related to SAO, but it’s back at last! Creatively titled Sword Art Online II, the Phantom Bullet arc will feature a couple of major changes in scene and locale that will hopefully have a fresh impact on the show as a whole. No longer will there be lush green fields and all sorts of picturesque landscapes that befit a fantasy setting – Gun Gale Online is a grimy place reeking of oil and dust, a contrast so stark that I’m wondering why they’ve chosen to stick with the franchise’s main title given that it has very little to do with the original Sword Art Online VRMMO. It’ll be all about sci-fi and guns now, which is an exciting change but also a very different one. After all, guns and swords aren’t very compatible with each other – it’s actually overkill to pit the former against the latter. In that sense, Kirito’s lightsaber-wielding proficiency is actually necessary in order for him to get anywhere in GGO – of course, he could just do what everyone else does and use a gun, but he would probably die very quickly. And that would be no fun.
Other changes include an increased focus on PvP, which we’ll primarily see conducted through the Bullet of Bullets tournament – this is as opposed to battling NPC monsters, by the way. In fact, I don’t even think such encounters exist in GGO. Hopefully this means an increased focus on strategy, alongside more action-packed fight scenes. On the aesthetic side of things, we’ll be seeing a lot more of a genderbent Kirito from now on, which should be a mere oddity that’s been put in for some reason or another. If there was a genuine reason behind it all, I honestly can’t remember. So yeah, there’ll be a lot of change happening. Hopefully most of that is forward movement. By changing, SAO gets an opportunity to rid itself of some of the problems the old season had – and what it’s gotta do now is avoid more of those problems cropping up. It seems like it’ll have two-cours to do so, so aside from Phantom Bullet we should be expecting Mother’s Rosario and perhaps Caliber too. Those are both good, so I’m glad A-1 will be doing those too – though I doubt they made that decision out of sentimentality. Gotta milk that cash cow.
I did mention in my review of the Extra Edition that Kikuoka was a crafty bastard, and indeed he is – his request for Kirito to investigate the string of unnatural deaths in GGO will be what the events in this arc are based around. There’s a shady player named Death Gun going around targeting a number of top high-profile players – who mysteriously fall over and die in real life when their in-game avatars are shot. It’s a bit unnerving that the government are admitting they haven’t conducted a full autopsy but are supposedly worried about the incidents regardless – because if the full-dive equipment itself hasn’t been tampered with then the whole idea is a bit of a sham. The threat of actual death has gone from being a real concern in the previous season to a baseless rumour in the sequel – it almost feels like it’s there for the sake of being there, so that a bit of continuity is preserved. It’s okay though, I’m mostly excited for Sinon, not the plot. Thankfully enough, Kirito did react with quite a bit of trepidation to the entire thing – as an SAO survivor should. Then he went and accepted after Kikuoka offered him some money.
While this pilot episode was mostly exposition, it was still solid nonetheless. There was a cool new OP too. I’m actually quite excited for this! As I haven’t actually read Phantom Bullet for quite some time now, everything’s a bit hazy to me – so I was glad they took the time to ease us in to Kirito’s next conflict as opposed to immediately stepping on the accelerator. At least, with this I’m fairly confident that this won’t fall foul to the Mahouka disease, in which painful chunks are removed from the story on a weekly basis while action scenes are as hype-inducing as watching soggy lukewarm toilet paper dry on a windowsill. Okay maybe it isn’t that bad, but do expect some proper action next week from SAO. For any hardcore Asuna fans out there, I hate to break it to you but that was about the total amount of screen time she’s getting in this arc. Sorry.
I hope this picture of Sinon’s ass is enough to compensate for that.
“On the aesthetic side of things, we’ll be seeing a lot more of a genderbent Kirito from now on, which should be a mere oddity that’s been put in for some reason or another. If there was a genuine reason behind it all, I honestly can’t remember.”
Not actually genderbent, just… trappy. Character appearance is assigned a random set of values when you first log into GGO which determine overall appearance, and Kirito just happens to get ones that make him look like a girl.
Anyway, I hope they do Sinon justice, as she was my favorite character in the VNs. I enjoyed the whole Phantom Bullet arc, although if folks were upset about Kirito being OP before, he hasn’t become any less so just because he’s in a new game.
Aha, that was the reason. You’ve got a great memory!
Sawashiro Miyuki is already nailing Sinon, even though she only appeared for a couple of minutes this episode. Sinon’s a wonderful girl, I’m sure things will be fine 😀 I think the general expectation is for Kirito to be just as OP, even in the face of adverse conditions like what GGO will present – he’s deflecting bullets with a goddamn sword. All that lightsaber twirling will be cool though. Prelude to Star Wars VII, with Death Gun being the new Darth Vader!
Agreed. Hopefully, Sinon will be amazing. Though, I’m not entirely sure about this first episode. Doesn’t really capture my attention as the other one did.
You mean in comparison to the original season? I agree it was certainly weaker, although I almost feel it was intentional in a way. As it’s a sequel with a sizeable fanbase, it can afford to rest on the laurels of what the franchise has accomplished so far without having to deal with that necessity of delivering an intense pilot episode to draw new fans in. That sort of position might be an arrogant one, but I’d take that over a rushed episode for the sake of extra action.
What a great start! Despite the lack of action it was still exciting to watch! I am looking forward to seeing how this arc plays out!!! 😀
SAO’s returned with gusto! If the OP is suggesting anything, you won’t have long to wait for some action scenes!
I am quite dubious about this season. I feel they should wrapped up SAO with the last one, it was a worthy and deserving end to the story line. Hope this does not become another anime where the sequel ruins the name.
The Phantom Bullet arc, which this is covering, is considered by most readers of the light novels to be among the better stories in the series, certainly far superior to the Fairy Dance arc, at least. Should this series also cover the Mother’s Rosario story… well, that is considered to be THE best story in the series by many people.
I sort of understand where you’re coming from, but I didn’t really see the GGO arc as a “forced” continuation of the story. The finite nature of SAO meant that the only way forward was to explore different VRMMOs, and I felt there was enough investment in the characters and setting to make for an interesting story even without having the world of Sword Art Online as the backdrop. Beyond Kirito’s stint in GGO, the author Kawahara has managed to sustain a very different story in the Alicization arc, which is the longest to date. That arc alone could easily fill up over two cours of an anime by itself, and is a different kettle of fish in many ways – I haven’t been following it lately, but I don’t think it’s done yet.
I agree about the sequel thing, though; with a bit of luck SAO II won’t fall short like so many other sequels have.
Eagerly waiting for the next episode. Hope it turns out awesome.
There will be lots of Sinon goodness. At the very least, your hopes are better invested in this instead of Mahouka.